Bulk packaging of glass and plastic bottles is not new. Innovative approaches for shipment of containers has increased its utilization recently.
Bulk packaging works best for cylindrical containers. Odd shapes such as decanters do not have sufficient stability to enable them to be shipped in this manner.
The surface condition of glass is extremely important in high-speed bulk and partitionless packaging systems. Due to the crystalline nature of raw glass, abrasion will occur whenever two such surfaces come into contact. Scratches caused by abrasion establish stress concentration points and can reduce container strength. Surface treatments to provide both abrasion protection and lubricity are a must for glass-to-glass contact.
This surface protection problem also arises when glass contacts metal components on high-speed handling and filling machinery.
In addition plastic containers are subject to scratching which can affect their cosmetic appearance thusly rendering them less attractive to consumer.
For those applications where regulations will not allow bottle-to-bottle packaging, alternatives have been developed.
One example is the junior partition. This partition is placed between the containers after they have been inserted in the shipping case. It extends toward the sidewall only far enough to pick up the two-point contact on the outer row of containers. It extends upward as far as the upper contact point on the packed containers. This reduction from the full width and height partitions most often encountered can provide for some material savings.
Another development that provides an alternative for those unable to ship in a glass-to-glass configuration is the container having a thin layer of polystyrene foam around the bottle to protect the sides. The foam thickness is sufficient to take the place of partitions in many cases. The container has obtained approvals from the railroads for shipment of several different sizes in partitionless containers for food and beverage items.
Soft drink bottlers are responsible for some of the developments in the glass-to-glass shipping concept.
One company that has pioneered the soft drink bottle covering and/or label is Owens-Illinois. Some of their patents known to the applicant include:
Rhoades U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,446 PA1 Karabedian U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,000 PA1 Karabedian U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,597 PA1 Rhoades U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,131
Indeed, there have been many different types of laminates provided for forming labels wherein a foam laminate would be provided with a pressure sensitive adhesive layer thereon normally having a backing sheet applied thereto. Printed data is applied to the face or top sheet of the laminate; the laminate is cut to desired label width, and provided to the user in suitable roll or other bulk form for removing the backing sheet material and applying the labels to the individual articles.
The big problem associated with all of the foam structures known here-to-fore, such as those recited above and in such other patents as Ryan U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,153 and Pesanzo U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,087 is the poor quality of the graphic material.
The general object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved laminate for use in forming labels having high quality graphics.
Another object of the invention is to provide the label forming laminate comprising a transparent film top layer adapted to have printed data applied on the underside thereof, an intermediate paper layer to add body, and a foam layer being secured to the intermediate layer by an adhesive.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a label forming laminate wherein the components thereof can be conventionally processed and laminated by existing apparatus and be easy to form, cut and use.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be made more apparent from a reading of the specification and the appended claims.